The removal of weeds from various landscape settings is an ever present task for homeowners, gardeners, landscape specialists, farmers and others. By the term "weeds" is meant any plant that is regarded as an unwanted plant in a given location. Thus, a tomato plant growing in an ornamental flower bed would be regarded as a weed.
Many tools and techniques have been developed to deal with weed problems and one grouping to which the present invention relates is directed to a weeding implement attached to an elongated shaft or handle which permits a user to remove weeds from the soil while the user remains in a more or less standing position. While this grouping in its broadest aspects would include familiar tools such as hoes and spades, the devices contemplated in connected with this invention are those which seek to minimize disruption of the soil around the weed. The ultimate goal of weed removal devices is to duplicate the pulling of weeds by hand.
A weed puller which is designed to engage the stem of a weed for removing the weed from the soil is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,830. The device includes a bifurcated cylindrical collar with opposing legs that are provided with cutting edges and hook means. The opposing legs are capable of being pushed into the soil a short distance and twisted so that an engaged weed will be cut off at ground level or it may be hooked and pulled out. The serrated edge associated with one of the opposing legs makes it unlikely that an engaged weed would simply by pulled from the ground. Rathers, the more likely outcome is that an engaged weed will have its stem cut off which in many cases allows the weed to put out new growth because a major portion of its roof system remains intact.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,241 describes a weeding implement which seeks to minimize disruption of the soil around the weed that is extracted by the implement. The device includes a handle and attached shaft which terminates in a bifurcated structure that provided two stick members that are arranged in a spaced, cooperating fashion. The bottom of one of the stick members has a hook that is described to engage the main root of a weed and the weed is pulled up by the hook or the implement is rotated to wrap the main root around the bifurcated structure so that more force can be applied to pull up the engaged weed. In order for the implement to engage a weed root, it must be inserted into the soil and it is evident that considerable disruption of the soil cannot be avoided.